Tolog Review: And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
reviewed by Katherine Lund

Timeless Blame

A novel about murder and blame seemed like the last book I would have chosen to read but after being told countless times how good this mystery novel was, I knew I should to give it a try. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie had me immediately immersed in the cycle of blame that the characters faced although that was only part of their much longer list of worries.

Invited to Indian Island by the retired judge, Lawrence Wargrave, the ten guests thought of this experience as nothing more than a relaxing vacation. Soon enough they had their suspicions about the true reason of their arrival. Following the first nights dinner, a recording played of accusations on how each guest had formerly murdered someone accidentally.

Still immersed I thought to myself, “Should the punishment for accidental murder end in the same way for the individuals?” Interested, I continued reading to find that the guests were being killed off one by one by poison, “suicide,” etc. Just like the eight guests left in the novel, I quickly noticed these unnatural occurrences and knew that someone had to be behind it all. 

Scrambling, the guests tried to uncover the mystery through the cycle of blame that had already begun. I did likewise with every turn of the page and was always kept interested because I never stopped in trying to uncover the mystery myself.

Coming to the end of the novel, I discovered I was wrong about this crazy, twisting, and blame-revolving novel because it was not so much about the murders, but about the unraveling story. It had me feeling like a detective that could find out new clues on every page. I looked forward to solving the mystery with the characters in the book on their journey of survival while continuing to try and reveal the culprit.